Who is excited about Capital Audiofest 2023?

I will pop out the decibel sound meter app on my iPhone to get a quick visual and that often helps explain differences I hear room to room quite a lot.

So the sound level is the only possible difference in sound between rooms? 🤦‍♂️😳🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I was at the show the whole day but I saw no people pulling their decibel meters out of their pockets or oscilloscopes.

I am enjoying the show.  I like the custom Deja Vu horn system and the horn system that Viva has introduced to this country at this show.  Both horn systems are free of the roughness and nasal coloration associated with horn systems.  Overall, I liked these systems the most, although both are pricey.

I was also extremely impressed with the Pure Audio Project Trio speaker/Pass 
integrated system.  The speakers are open baffle speakers with twin woofers and a midrange/tweeter coaxial drive in between the woofers. This is the kind of clear, yet not thin and bright sound I like, with a very natural sounding attack and decay of note.  I prefer a little more warmth and “weight” but these are fantastic speakers.  The BIG shock to me was the $8450 price (if I recall correctly).  If they had said $35,000, I would have said “not bad,” but the quoted price left me speechless.  I cannot recall the name of the speaker cables (very thin and wide ribbon-type cables but they must be very good to let this kind of sound through, and I was quoted $900, again, a bargain.

Amazing gear and good people. Some inspirational pieces. It was my first time at the show. I don't know about decibel meters but I could quietly talk and be heard when most systems played.

I didn't realize I was a high volume listener, but to me everything seemed like quiet background levels with very high priced gear. Maybe I'm already deaf. Just seemed ... So quiet. I thought we were going for as the artist intended. Have you heard a drum kit in a room before? It's an assault. Most of the rooms seemed like restaurant in-ceiling SPL levels. Not very exciting, I dunno.. 

So the sound level is the only possible difference in sound between rooms?

Of course not. Read what I actually said which is “it often helps”.

Mainly the sound meter is a useful tool to identify differences in bass extension and levels Room to room. I’ve found some rooms are bass heavy and others bass shy and others just right. It helps to verify what you hear.

Bass levels have a big impact on what you hear. Too much bass tend to obscure detail in the midrange. Too little tends to make the midrange sound more pronounced.

The meter also helps confirm what you are hearing room to room and better understand why things sound different or not.

Also my ears are older and no longer hear “air” fully well out to 20khz, but the sound meter app on my iPhone has that covered much better than I. Just because I can’t hear something doesn’t mean a “high end” system gets a free pass to slack off.

I was at the show the whole day but I saw no people pulling their decibel meters out of their pockets or oscilloscopes.

Did you check what people were actually looking at when they had their smartphones out? Sound meter apps are a real thing! There could have been nefarious measuring going on right under your nose.  Things are not always what they appear to be.😉